Many thanks to @edufuturist.bsky.social for his thoughts on Compact 2.0 and for referring to this thread. bryanalexander.org/politics/com...

Compact 2.0 and the McMahon statement: the Secretary of Education issues a call to action

Greetings from early August.  For some this is vacation season, but for me it’s full-tilt work.  I’m pitching a new book, ramping up video and Substack content, setting up speaking gigs…

bryanalexander.org

BOOM. The AAUP is suing Texas A&M University System over their censorship policy that prohibits faculty from discussing topics & viewpoints related to race, sexual orientation, & gender. www.aclutx.org/app/uploads/... 1

While this is a HUGE WIN, there's more work to do. It's time to DOUBLE DOWN in pressuring Congress. They need to revoke the OMB Proposal. Members of Congress who fail to stop the Proposal will be out of a job January 3rd, 2027, we will make sure of it. 🧵

Congratulations to everyone who worked their asses off for something that any semi-decent and ultimately self-interested government should have done in penance www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/b...

Education Dept. to Wipe Out Student Loans of 170,000 More Defrauded Borrowers (Gift Article)

The sprawling case, centered on students defrauded by for-profit schools, has now become the largest class-action settlement in American history.

nytimes.com

BREAKING: We're suing Texas A&M over the university system’s unconstitutional censorship policy. Administrators are canceling or restricting courses that discuss race, gender, and sexual orientation. Public universities are meant for sharing knowledge — not banning it.

>>>>>>>>>>>> Faculty in the South Survey is live. If you are faculty in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas

Matthew Boedy@matthewboedy.bsky.social · 2d ago

The 2026 @aaup.org Faculty in the South Survey is live. If you are faculty in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas please take a second to fill it out: forms.gle/iLheVskd4wcA...

This man is quietly behind the scenes the most brutal of right-wing fanatics dismantling US democracy, environmental oversight, labor regulations, etc.

ProPublica@propublica.org · 2w ago

Russ Vought set out to ensure a second Trump term would not be hampered by checks and balances: “I don’t want President Trump having to lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office about whether something is legal or doable or moral.” (Published Oct. 2025 w/ @newyorker.com)

Check out our activities -- links to webinars, videos, articles, toolkits too. Let's go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some of our partners @aaup.org @higheredlabor.bsky.social @rooseveltinstitute.org @oah.org @lawcha.bsky.social @laborlawchajournal.bsky.social

It's us! #BTHOcensorship #LetUsTeach

Texas A&M sued over teaching limits on race, gender

This is the second Texas university system sued over teaching restrictions in recent weeks.

texastribune.org

Thanks to the Big Ugly Bill, working 3 jobs isn't enough. Rising student loan payments are pushing borrowers to the brink including one worker who is facing a $600+ monthly payment that has them considering dipping into retirement savings to make ends meet. www.businessinsider.com/works-3-jobs...

He works 3 jobs and may have to drain his retirement to afford a $600 student-loan payment surge

Working full-time in IT, along with side jobs for Best Buy and DoorDash, one student-loan borrower is grappling with an anticipated payment surge.

businessinsider.com

Everything is big in Texas. Including the racism, bigotry & law breaking across Texas’ public universities. And the resistance. The lawsuits are here. First one hit Tech. This one hits A&M. UT just matter of time. @texasaaup.bsky.social @aaup.org

Gautam Hans@gshans.bsky.social · yesterday

Another banger from @aclu.org @aaup.org www.aclutx.org/press-releas...

“The American Association of University Professors is joined in the Texas A&M lawsuit by four faculty plaintiffs, each of whom says the policy prompted their course to be canceled or not offered.” www.chronicle.com/article/what...

‘What Are We Even Doing Here?': New Lawsuit Challenges Ban on Race and Gender Topics at Texas A&M

Plaintiffs included four faculty members whose courses were canceled or not offered.

chronicle.com

“By embarking on a campaign of censorship, Texas A&M has abdicated its responsibility to support students’ right to learn & faculty’s right to teach. A university that censors Plato & other texts abandons its obligation to truth, free inquiry, & the public trust.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP president 5

AAUP President Todd Wolfson: An Institution That Censors Plato is Not a Serious Institution of Higher Learning

Censoring Plato is an academic absurdity and a textbook violation of academic freedom. Barring a foundational philosopher who is a cornerstone of Western thought because his work touches on race or ge...

aaup.org

Re: the AAU capitulation campaign to sell out universities to the Trump admin. Please watch this keynote speech from JD in 2021, where he explicitly says "universities are the enemy" & "professors are evil," and then look me in the eye and say this is a good faith effort. youtu.be/0FR65Cifnhw?...

J.D. Vance | The Universities are the Enemy | National Conservatism Conference II

YouTube video by National Conservatism

youtu.be

The newest missive from Linda McMahon is a dressed up, watered down version of the Compact that was roundly rejected by universities and colleges last year. The fact that @aau.edu collaborated with the Trump administration on this letter should fool no one. Just say no. www.aft.org/press-releas...

AFT, AAUP Respond to Trump Compact 2.0

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten and American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson issued the following response to the Trump administration’s new higher education comp...

aft.org

The 2026 @aaup.org Faculty in the South Survey is live. If you are faculty in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas please take a second to fill it out: forms.gle/iLheVskd4wcA...

2026 AAUP Faculty in the South Survey

The Georgia conference of the American Association of University Professors [AAUP] and its partners in states across the South have been at the forefront of fighting attacks on higher education. To as...

forms.gle

I appreciate that folks are expecting @standupforscience.net to act like many organizations/institutions and declare a win, then take our foot off the gas. Unfortunately for everyone involved, we are declaring a win and PUTTING PEDAL TO THE METAL. NEXT ACTION STEPS FORTH COMING TEAM!

Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · 3d ago

THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE POWER ACCOMPLISHES! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who wrote comments, contacted Congress, and yelled! This is OUR WIN! @standupforscience.net www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE POWER ACCOMPLISHES! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who wrote comments, contacted Congress, and yelled! This is OUR WIN! @standupforscience.net www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

Senate finalizes funding patch that would block Trump’s grant overhaul

Language is included to delay the president’s move to put political appointees in charge of grant approval.

politico.com

Yes. And I am begging U presidents & trustees to read some of the outstanding work on autocracy (from their own institutions!) that incorporates lessons from other countries. One of the first moves in democratic backsliding: The autocrat captures civil society, including universities.

Jonathan Feingold@jpygold.bsky.social · 2d ago

My lord at this point it’s either incompetence or collusion. any university president who thinks they can “work” with the Trump regime lacks fitness for the job.

So, I really hope I get to tell this story in longer form in the near future, but it it’s burning a hole inside me. Most of it comes from an interview with Bob Hirst this weekend. Bob has been Exec Editor of the Mark Twain Project for 47 years, before which he was part of its staff for ~15. 1/16

4. Cost of higher ed: The real issue here is privatization of public higher ed, which could be fixed with state & federal funding. But they’re really talking about the elites — the same ones trying to outdo themselves in loan-free financial aid for middle-income families so this makes little sense.

3. Intellectual pluralism: Not a bad thing, except that the government shouldn’t be telling universities who to hire (aka more conservatives). Also, a thinly veiled attack on any ethnic studies field; women’s, gender, and sexuality studies; Black studies; environmental studies…

2. Free speech and protest: Sure, if you don’t mean that free speech only applies to right-wing rhetoric and don’t think uttering the word “Palestine” makes someone “violent and unruly protestor.” Higher ed since 2024 should make anyone skeptical of how the rhetoric of “free speech” is deployed.

Here’s my take on the key points in the letter. Let’s call it my generous read: 1. Admissions: racist dogwhistle; presumes a *lack* of merit for certain minoritized groups; elites have more qualified people of all backgrounds than seats but they aren’t the only unis so this isn’t a real problem.

This is the tragic yet logical result of a decades-long project—undertaken by rightwing politicians and “business-minded” administrators alike—to distort the meaning of higher education, to deny the intrinsic value of the pursuit of knowledge, to deprive us all of richer, more purposeful lives.

The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 2d ago

President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v

“As with [Trump's] first compact, the best path forward is for higher education workers to organize and demand that their administrations and governing boards reject Compact 2.0. There is every reason to believe we can do so again." - @rweingarten.bsky.social & @aaup.org's @proftwolf.bsky.social

AFT, AAUP Respond to Trump Compact 2.0

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten and American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson issued the following response to the Trump administration’s new higher education comp...

aft.org

Fascists and authoritarian regimes try to control universities and turn them into purveyors of state propaganda through extortion…... www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

Trump administration asks colleges to commit to education overhaul

Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s letter contains some similarities to a compact offered to and rejected by a small group of schools last year.

politico.com

The Trump admin is back with version 2.0 of its higher ed compact. The reason is simple: The first one failed. Compact 2.0 lacks egregious elements of its predecessor. That’s a victory & affirms that the answer to authoritarianism is organized resistance—not compliance. www.aaup.org/news/new-com...

New Compact Shows Resistance Works, but Fight for Higher Ed Isn’t Over

The Trump administration is back with a second version of its higher education compact. As with its predecessor, the best path forward is for higher education workers to organize and demand that their...

aaup.org

In substance, this is a watered-down version of the "Compact for Excellence in Higher Education" that was already resoundingly rejected by US universities. The difference is that the Department is now trying to make this "voluntary" by "encouraging" universities to make their own declarations.

the department of education today issued a 'national call to action' - which, in plain english, is a call for capitulation to trump administration's assault on higher ed. www.ed.gov/media/docume... note how this doc deploys recent yale & vanderbilt reports